Symbiosi
by Ryeflight
Summary: I refuse to believe Wally is dead. I've also noticed a lack of stories focusing on this, so I wrote one. #LONGLIVEWALLY (I'm not obsessed . . .) Rated T for language and stuff. Spitfire (duh) and any other canon pairings. There's some humor in later chapters, but you can't put on 3 genres. I know the summary sucks, this is my first story so please don't kill me.
1. Aftermath

Artemis had a memory gap. She remembered sinking to her knees in the freezing snow, her mind repeating the words "Artemis, he wanted me to tell you, he loved you." Wally couldn't be gone, he couldn't. Her mind was on replay of every moment they had had together. It wasn't until she saw the waiting Justice League members on the beach next to the ruins of Mt. Justice that she woke up from her stupor. Roy was with them. He had been one of Wally's best friends too, he deserved to know what had happened.

* * *

Batman knew something was wrong from the moment the team landed. Aqualad reported that the mission had been a success, but at a terrible price. Instantly he heard Ollie's voice.

"What happened? Who . . ." Batman looked at the team, but he already knew. Artemis was barely able to stand up, and was thus being supported by Dick and Barry. Neither had masks or cowls on, and Dick kept pushing his free hand through his hair, tears falling freely from his eyes. Batman had only seen Dick cry in public twice before, since it didn't do much for the Bat family's rep to have their members bursting out in tears every other second. And per Bat family rule, he never took his mask off when not with people who already knew his identity. Ever. As he surveyed the rest of the teenagers he saw the same subdued, even shocked expressions on M'gann, Bart, Conner and Kaldur, mirroring Dick and Barry. He met Dick's eyes and received a small nod of confirmation. In response to Ollie's question, Artemis choked out an unintelligible answer that only brought more questions. He could see that Artemis was close to collapsing and answered for her.

"Wally."

* * *

Dick heard his mentor speak. The sound that followed was the one he had predicted. The clatter of a bow hitting the ground, followed by Roy's words.

" No. No, no, no. He can't be. He's . . . Wally." Dick knew that as much as Roy complained about Wally, the news hit him just as hard as it hit Artemis and himself. Then he heard Batman's voice once more.

" Wally's parents. Someone needs to tell his parents." Roy and Barry volunteered at the same moment he did. Then a shaky voice spoke up.

* * *

"I'll do it." Artemis knew in her heart that it had to be her. Already she could hear Ollie's and Roy's protests. She directed her next words at Batman and Dick.

"It has to be me." She didn't even have to say it. Dick was already guiding her towards the bioship. With the zeta beams gone, it was the fastest way to Missouri.

 **A/N I know that Central City doesn't have a fixed location, but in YJ it's supposed to be in Missouri.**

* * *

Artemis stood outside the Wests' door. After almost twenty minutes she finally gathered the courage to knock. When they answered the door with smiling faces, she felt the tears gather in her eyes.

" What happened Artemis? Where's Wally? What did he do?" Mrs. West's questions rushed over her. She felt a sad smile form on her face at Wally's mother's assumption that he had done something to hurt her. She tried to think of a way to break the news that Wally was gone gently.

"He left." That was the only thing Artemis could think to say. By the looks on their faces, she realized her words had been misinterpreted.

"He broke up with you?" Mr. West looked confused. She knew that if she had outright said that he broke up with her Wally's father would have been angry. She tried again.

"He's gone." She looked up and,seeing the confusion still on their faces, realized that she was going to have to say it outright.

"He died." Artemis couldn't bring herself to watch as their faces shifted from confusion to shock and grief. She felt someone's arm wrap around her and pull her into a hug. She didn't know how long she stayed there with them crying, it felt like hours. When she did start home, she almost hoped that someone would try to attack her. Anger would be a welcome change from the cold, numbing sensation she couldn't escape.

 **A/N I'm referring to the heroes by their first names, for the most part. With the exception of Batman. Because, he is BATMAN.**


	2. Theories

A/N I'm referring to the characters by their first names, for the most part. Except for Batman. Because he is BATMAN.

Kaldur sighed. He missed his family. The first team. Dick, Wally, Conner, M'gann, Artemis, Zatanna, Raquel and himself. Now Wally was dead, Raquel was married and in the Justice League, Conner and M'gann were subdued and melancholy, Zatanna was constantly yelling at Dick about denial and responsibility, Dick wasn't talking to anyone but Batman, and Artemis was a shadow of grief. Even as he thought this, the computer announced the arrival of Zatanna.

"That idiot! He just can't accept it can he?! Noo, not NIghtwing, he has to keep reminding us because of his Goddamn state of denial! IDIOT!" Zatanna stormed off muttering words that Kaldur had never heard before, and assumed were not complimentary.

Jade was worried about Artemis. Yes, the merciless mostly-ex-assassin Cheshire was worried for her sister. She couldn't remember Artemis really, truly smiling since the death of Wally. At least her father was keeping his distance. If anything could worsen Artemis's state, it was a visit from Lawrence Crock.

Artemis heard the knock a split second before the facial recognition software Dick had installed announced the person's name. Recognized: Lawrence Crock. Known criminal operating under name Sportsmaster. Currently unarmed. Greeaaat. A visit from Dad was just what she needed.

She got up and flung open the door. Her father was standing in front of her in civies. Smirking. He was smirking at her. She knew this had something to do with Wally's . . . disappearance. Artemis couldn't bring herself to say he was dead.

"Hey, Baby Girl -"

"What do you want?" Artemis wasn't in the mood to put up with his usual crap. She just wanted him to leave.

"No need to be rude. Aren't I allowed to visit my daughter?"

"As far as I'm concerned, Dad, Artemis replied, putting sarcastic emphasis on the word, our relationship is biological only." She was sick of her dad showing up pretending to be a part of her family, then messing up her personal life before he left. She saw her father's facade fade as anger took its place.

"Well if you're going to be like that, fine. I have a proposal for you." She had a feeling she knew what it was. "Join the family business. Come one Artemis, I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You aren't a hero. You tried it, you quit -"

"Wally and I had a good reason to quit -"

"Shut it and don't interrupt me. You quit and how'd that work out for you, huh? Your idiot boyfriend died -" Artemis had had enough.

"GET OUT! I don't ever want to see you again! Everytime you turn up, all you do is cause grief! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Artemis slammed the door in her father's face and collapsed against it, shaking.

* * *

Dick did not have a denial problem, contrary to whatever Zatanna thought. He had good reason to believe Wally wasn't dead. This reason started with, and was based almost entirely on these four words; there was no body. With heroes, if there was no body, there was always a very good chance that they were alive. Even when there was a body, there had been times when the person wasn't really dead. *cough Superman cough*. Dick had compiled all the facts, and all of them pointed to the possibility that Wally was alive.

Fact 1: They were dealing with an unknown energy beam, combined with an extreme amount of kinetic energy.

Fact 2: There was no body.

Fact 3: Dick had scanned the area, and could find no biological matter what-so ever.

Fact 4: He had asked Jaime, who said that his scarab had warned him that Wally would cease. Ceasing and dying were two completely different things, and Jaime had assured Dick that his scarab was extremely meticulous in his word choice.

Fact 5: Dick had found traces of speed force energy where Wally ceased.

Based on this information, Dick had narrowed down the possibilities to four. Wally had either teleported, time traveled, was stuck in the speed force or was . . . dead. Dick really didn't count the last option as a possibility.

The only people who knew about his theories were his mentor, because he would have found out anyway, Bart, because Dick needed information on the speed force, and Zatanna. Zatanna had not been happy or hopeful in regards to the fact that Wally might not be dead. In fact, she was rather . . . livid. Dick couldn't think of another way to describe her mood around him these days. She thought that he was abandoning his responsibility to the team and raising people's' hope for no reason.

Dick sighed and let his head sink into his hands. He was exhausted. He had been researching his theories all day, and well into the night. His theory about time-travel just gave him confusing information, and he had done all he could for the teleportation. He had called every contact the Justice League had throughout the galaxy and put them on alert for anyone who looked, or acted like Wally, or who had mysteriously appeared 6 months ago.

6 months. Dick couldn't believe that Wally had been gone that long. Maybe Alfred was right. Maybe eighteen hour days did warp your sense of time. Although Alfred had also added that "they would turn you into emotionless nocturnal creatures that skulked in the shadows, like Master Bruce".

He heard the zeta beams whir to life a second before the computer announced Zatanna's arrival.

"Zee, look, if you're going to lecture me again-" Dick never got to finish his sentence.

"Not here for you. Kaldur needs Tim to zeta to the cave." Though Dick winced at the harshness of her statement, he still picked up on the fact that Zatanna's visit was unecessary.

"If Kaldur needs Tim to report for a mission, Kaldur can contact him via comm or have M'gann summon him. There was no real need for you to come here." Dick smirked to himself at the momentary change in Zatanna's composure; it was rare that he could catch the young magician off guard these days.

"I'm the only person who can teleport both myself and Tim back to the cave." Now she was just babbling.

"No, you're not. A lot of the leaguers can teleport, furthermore, there is no reason for Kaldur to need a leaguer to collect Tim. And you say you can teleport, yet you used the zeta beams, which you must know bring you directly to the batcave, where you probably assumed I would be." This time, Dick openly smirked as he sat back and folded his arms across his chest. Zatanna stood there for a minute,looking like a deer in headlights. Then, seeming to come to a decision, she glared at him and snarled out an insult that Dick decided to ignore. He was opening his mouth to speak when she cut him off.

"You know, I was going to apologize for dismissing you theories about Wally, I figured that this was your way to try and cope with it. I really was going to, too. But then you go be so Goddamn ARROGANT! You just act like your so fucking better than everyone else! WE GET IT! Your better than us, that doesn't give the right to act like a fucking jerk to everyone!" Dick winced inwardly at her words. He had never heard her curse that much.

"Look, Zee . . "

"Save it, I really don't care." It was that last statement that really got to Dick. Usually the young Bat was good, terrific even, at containing his emotions, but after the insincere statement about Wally, that was the last straw.

"Don't come here and pretend to apologize then. Maybe you should come up with some theories about getting your dad back and show them to me so I can sneer at them and call you a deluded idiot. Then I'll say I'm going to apologize, but only treat you like a demented psycho who can't cope with reality. Up until now I've let you insult me, but now I've had it. Get Tim and leave, or don't. Either way, we're through." Dick knew that now he was the one being cruel, but at the moment, he didn't care.

Zatanna glared at him, but he could see the shock and tears she was trying to hide. Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned her dad.

Before he could do anything, she turned on her heel and swept back to the zeta beams. Right before she glittered away, she hurled one last insult at him.

"Go to hell, you son of a bitch."

A/N I am sorry that this took so long to update, school just started. UGHH. I don't usually curse that much, just trying to show Zatanna's anger.


	3. Hold On

**A/N I'm also trying to work on other stories, so this is going to be updated sporadically, I'm really sorry that it takes so long for me to update!**

Jade was afraid to bring up the subject of Artemis, because that could end up bringing up the subject of Wally. Roy did not do well with the subject of Wally. Last time he overheard a civilian just happen to say the name, talking about someone totally different, he had scowled and walked all the way back to the apartment. That had been a fifteen mile walk through the more shady parts of Star, carrying three full shopping bags. Not that they had paid for them yet. Not that Jade had a credit card, or enough money on her. That one had been fun to explain to her mom. "You see Mom, there was this guy, don't look at me like that, we went back and left the store a donation . . . " Mrs. Crock had not been happy, and as a consequence, Jade now had to wait another month before she got her dagger back.

Personally, she thought that Roy would have preferred to have his arrows taken away, even though Ollie didn't consider what he did a punishment. Jade, and pretty much everyone but Ollie had figured out that Roy did not want to talk about his feelings, and that if you weren't Dinah, attempting it would lead to your very painful death. Well, Ollie owed his girlfriend bigtime for all the times she had stopped Roy before he turned homicidal. This time though, Roy had just left Ollie's house *cough mansion that Jade was still not allowed in* in the middle of their "talk". Ollie had brought up Wally, and Roy just left. So yeah, Wally was not a common topic that was brought up around the Harpers' apartment.

Jade sighed. She needed to talk to her sister, but she didn't have access to the zeta beams. (Seriously people, I gave Batman all of my illegal weapons! I haven't even killed anyone that recently! OK, one guy, but he was stalking me and I don't care if you say he was just going to the movie theater, you weren't there! **Jade, get off the computer.** They don't trust me! **Batman controls access to the zeta beams. Batman is paranoid around normal people.** _ **You**_ **are an ex-assassin with self control issues. Do you really think he isn't going to be paranoid around you?** ) Artemis hadn't been heard from by anybody for weeks, Jade knew, she had checked.

Artemis was staring at the last picture she and Wally had together, from Christmas at Dick's house, sorry, mansion. God, she missed him. The house felt too empty without him here. She had tried being Tigress for the first few months, but eventually it had just hurt too much. Everytime she saw Bart she had to remind herself that he wasn't Wally. Wally was gone and he wasn't coming back. She had entertained the possibility of him still being alive at first, but reality had a way of crushing dreams.

She knew she was probably worrying everyone sick by ignoring every way they had tried to contact her, but at the moment she really didn't care.

" _Why do you have to play the hero Wally? Why couldn't you just let someone else save the world?_ Artemis sighed. All she wanted to do was go to sleep, but she had ended up creating a tradition of staring at a photo of Wally at least once a day. She wasn't sure why she did it, all it did was make her miss him more, if that was possible.

Eventually, she rose to her feet and started toward the stairs. She had started sleeping on the couch because the bed felt too empty.

Artemis stood in the hallway outside the living room, looking at the pictures hanging on the walls. Some were of the team, others were of her and Wally's families. One at the end of the hallway was really just a Christmas card from Jade, Roy and Lian that Artemis had tacked to the wall. She heard the floor creak behind her and was about to turn around when she felt a staggering pain in her head.

"Oh, is the poor little bitch missing her friends? Too bad they aren't here, or they might be able to rescue you. Such a pity." Those were the last words Artemis heard before she blacked out.

* * *

Enth metal . . . DNA . . . energy disruption . . . if Bart could hold his speed long enough. Dick wanted to jump up and down like a little kid, but he was too tired to even stand up. If he had calculated correctly, and Wally really was still alive, he could have his best friend back before the Fourth of July. It had been about a year since he had vanished, and now Dick had a chance to get him back.

" _Hang on Wally, we're coming."_

 **A/N Yes I know I'm evil. I don't update for almost a month and then I leave you on a cliffhanger, I'm sorry. I'll try to make the next chapter longer.**


	4. Return

When Artemis woke up, the first thing she registered was the cold. Then the pounding in her head. She slitted her eyes, remembering the training from Batman. As far as she could tell, she was sitting in a chair with her hands tied behind her back. With a rope. OK, so probably not a supervillian to be taken too seriously. Except that the rope was harder than iron. It had absolutely no give, which pretty much put an end to the idea that she could untie the knot. From the part of the room she could see, she wasn't in any sort of prison, just an abandoned house. A really abandoned house. The ceiling had a huge hole in it, and the whole house smelled like a dead animal. Artemis tried moving her feet just enough to tell if they were bound, but not enough to alert anyone to her being awake. Whoever had tied her up was an idiot. Not only were her feet not tied, but she wasn't blindfolded, or restricted in anyway other than her hands. If the rope hadn't been as hard as it was, she would already be out. The thing that was bothering her was that she knew the voice she'd heard. She couldn't remember where, but she had heard it. That and the ropes being so hard almost like they were . . . frozen. " _No, it can't be him. How could it be him? Why would it be him?"_ Artemis took a deep breath and called out.

"What do you want? I don't have money, and I'm not going to be ransomed. Threaten me and you're more likely to get your ass kicked by my friends."

"But sadly, they don't know where you are do they? And seeing as you turned into a recluse, I don't see any reason as to why they would come looking for you." The voice that replied only confirmed what she thought.

"Cameron, what do you want?" Artemis realized now why the ropes were so hard, he must have frozen them after he tied her up. She shivered, waiting for his reply. It felt as though the room's temp had been lowered to below 0 degrees F.

"Hmm, let me think, oh that's right, revenge." She could see him now, standing in the doorway to the room, glaring.

"For what exactly? Because if it's for all the times the team kicked your sorry butt, we're going to be here a long time." She knew that insulting him was probably a bad move on her part, but she really wasn't the damsel in distress type. Plus, it would feel so good to be able to take her anger out on someone. She was sure he had done something in the last month to deserve it, outside of kidnapping her.

"I don't know, gee what could I possibly have against you? You didn't betray me and your family a few hundred times and use my feelings for your entertainment or anything like that. Oh, wait." He kept walking closer, which she guessed he thought would intimidate her, but really made it a lot easier for her to kick him.

"Was that supposed to be sarcasm? I couldn't tell. You're dumb enough to actually be serious." Artemis knew that an insult like that wouldn't have worked on anyone with a brain but Cameron was never the smartest guy on the planet.

"Funny, since you're the one tied up." He was had stopped walking and was leering at her. Artemis needed him to be within reach of her feet, since she was pretty sure that she could get out of the ropes if she could just distract him.

"You know, you seem to think you're stronger, faster and generally better than me. Sadly, you'll never get a chance to prove it, since you're always hiding behind Daddy, aren't you." That struck a nerve. He was standing right in front of her, probably preparing to shout. Artemis drove her leg straight up, hitting him the lower stomach. He doubled over in pain, but her triumph was short-lived. Artemis gasped as he grabbed her leg, causing a layer of frost to spread across it, and inflicting some of the worst pain she had ever felt.

"Try it again, and I'll freeze more than just your ankle."

* * *

Dick decided that he didn't like the Arctic. No, he most definitely did not. He was envious of Bart, who produced so much extra body heat that you practically had to encase him in an iceberg to make him as cold as Dick was right now.

"Are you sure this will work? Like, 100% sure? Wally will come back? And everyone can stop being sad?" Dick would have answered Bart's question, except that he already had. Ten times. And that was only on the since they had landed, not counting the thirty-five times he had asked on the bioship.

"Nightwing has been patient enough to tolerate your incessant questions, and has already answered you. I believe he's trying to focus so that we don't get lost." Shayera raised her eyebrows at Bart, who instantly reddened and mumbled an apology. Dick shot a thankful glance at the Thanagarian. He had never seen her without her helmet on, and was surprised at her appearance. The Hawks usually kept to themselves, and he didn't know Shayera all that well, but she had immediately understood why he asked her to come on this mission, and why he asked that it be kept secret. He didn't want to get anyone's hopes up, because if this didn't work, Wally really was dead.

"So, would that huge kind of glow-y crater be where we're headed?" Bart's question jolted Dick out of his rather pessimistic thoughts.

"Yeah, unless there are other glowing craters in the middle of the Arctic Tundra we don't know about." Dick was wondering why it was glowing. It hadn't been glowing before. Hmm. Maybe Reach (inert horrible insult here) tech could make ice radioactive.

He turned to Bart.

"You know how fast you have to go? If you can't maintain the speed, this won't work." Dick wasn't sure of the exact speed, but he knew it had to be crazy fast.

"Uh, yeah. About a few times the speed of light. You're sure wearing this bracelet will keep me from going poof?" Dick had asked Shayera and Katar for enth metal with a low enough charge to only deflect the speed force energy away from Bart, but still let him open a "portal" into it. The last thing he needed was to have Bart disappear like Wally did, except that it would be completely his fault.

"It will work Bart. That enth metal has been diluted, but the charge is still strong enough to protect you. The enth in my mace is about 100x as strong as your bracelet, and that's the amount needed to open and hold open a rip in the space time continuum. You only need to deflect energy." Once again, Dick was thankful for the Thanagarian warrior's input. He didn't know much about enth metal, only that it could disrupt energies, on a scale as small as static electricity to as big as deflecting lightning to opening a rip in dimensions. He knew it was one of the reasons the Thanagarians were such great warriors. Shayera had told him that she and her husband wore enth metal armor when fighting someone like Wotan or Klarion because it negated their magic.

"So, I just start running, and when I reach whatever speed, she electrifies her mace and your chip does it's DNA thingy and then Wally reverse poofs?" Bart wasn't the most scientific person, and Dick's plan had gone over his head. His best interpretation was run until you see Wally or get electrocuted. Dick had warned him that might happen if he slowed down. The enth current worked a lot like electricity, and if it couldn't flow into the speed force, it would connect to Bart's speed trail and eventually electrocute him.

"That's one way to put it, yeah. Are you absolutely sure you want to try this? Your job is the simplest, but also the most risky."

"This is a chance to bring Wally back. How do you think I would feel if I lived the rest of my life knowing that I had given up that chance? Dick nodded and turned to Shayera.

"Do you have the chip locked on?" He had taken a sample of the DNA Wally had given for the Zeta identification system and made a chip that would recognize his DNA inside the speed force, then attached it to Shayera's mace. If it worked, it would latch onto Wally in the speed force and pull him out. If it didn't, Bart would be electrocuted.

"So . . . . just start running?" Dick realized that he had probably just been standing there for a while.

"Yeah. If you're ready." Bart just grinned, then became a blur of motion.

Dick had his glove computer out, which had a built in speed monitor. He had set it to beep when Bart reached the necessary speed. He turned at the sound of someone clearing their throat.

"I should warn you. You may need to hold on to me so that we don't get sucked into the speed force. I believe your friend is smaller than Barry was, as it took all seven founding members to pull him out, though that was without another speedster steadying the energy." Shayera was frowning slightly towards the blur whipping around the crater. Dick just nodded. He could always anchor them to the iceberg behind them with his grappling hook if they started to get pulled in. BEEEEEEEP.

"BART! HOLD YOUR SPEED!" Dick prayed that Bart had heard him. He turned to Shayera.

"Ready?"

"As much as you can be for a possibly suicidal task." She grinned. Dick felt the air crackle as the enth current surrounded her mace. Shayera approached Bart, or rather the blur sending out small bolts of lightning. When she was about an arm length or two away, she swung the mace as hard as she could into the speed trail Bart had left. Instantly, Dick felt the change in the air. His hair was sticking straight up, and he felt like he was being pulled towards Bart. It was only then that he realized that Shayera was getting pulled closer to the crackling oval that was getting bigger every second. He decided to shoot the grapple into the ice behind him as a precaution, than let the portal pull him close enough to grab Shayera's shoulder.

Well, maybe he should have brought Superboy. The cable wasn't working so well, as he could see it sliding through the ice, the portal being too loud for him to actually hear it.

"SHAYERA! WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING, IT ISN'T WORKING!"

"I THINK IT IS! JUST GIVE IT A MINUTE!"

Both had to shout to be heard over the sound of the crackling enth and portal. Dick was about to shout back that they might not have a minute, when the world went white and all three of them were thrown back across the icy ground. Dick shook his head, then winced as the action caused the throbbing from the explosion to worsen. He stumbled to his feet and, after making sure that both Shayera and Bart were beginning to recover, (And not dead, bleeding or missing) he approached what was now a crater. Before reaching the point at which he would be able to see into it, he took a deep breath. He knew he couldn't risk trying again, so if Wally wasn't there, this was the end. He wasn't coming back. Ever. Dick steadied himself and looked over the edge.

Even though he had steeled himself for this possibility, he still felt as if the entire world had come crashing down. Nothing was in the bottom of the crater but ice shards. He was ready to collapse into tears. Though she might have gone beyond with it, Zee had been partly right. The only thing keeping Dick from retreating so far from the world that he never came back was this plan. And now it had failed. He tried to take a steadying breath, but ended up nearly choking on air (somehow) when a voice seemed to materialize behind him.

"I take it it hasn't been the most asterous day. Nice hairstyle by the way."

Dick spun around fast enough to rival the Flash himself. He was confronted with a grinning redhead in a tattered yellow and red uniform with bright green eyes. Dick finally managed to recover his voice when he noticed Wally was swaying where he stood. However, his attempt to speak was cut off by the speedster.

"Your hair is turning green. Ooooo! Turtle!" Wally promptly collapsed onto the ice.

Bart and Shayera had, at this point, gotten up and gone to see what was going on, as an outcropping of ice created by the explosion blocked their view. Bart frowned when he saw Dick shaking a still body on the ground, fearing the worst. Then Dick looked up, saw them, and called out.

"He's unconscious! Help me!" His face was blanched, and he seemed on the verge of a panic attack. In fact, Dick had no idea what was wrong with Wally, and was terrified that his friend was going to die, and it would be his fault for not figuring out the problem. He had started chest palpitations, though it didn't seem to be doing any good.

"I could try shocking him." Bart offered. "If I vibrate my hands fast enough-"

"It makes an electrical charge. Yeah, yeah yeah, just don't stop his heart." Dick was growing increasingly panicked, and his decision making skills probably weren't at their best. Luckily for Wally, the speedster's eyes flew open right at the moment that Dick said "Stop his heart". In two seconds, Wally was up and 30 feet away from them.

"In that case, I'll be over here. And here I was thinking you were _**happy**_ to see me. And I really wouldn't try that. Artemis would turn you into a green porcupine in two seconds flat." Wally was still grinning, indicating that he didn't seriously think they were going to try and kill him, but Dick did notice that he seemed slightly more wary of them.

When he was finally able to recover his voice, Dick managed to choke out what may have been a sentence.

"How . . . you . . .unconscious (Here he gestured at the ground) . . . no one there . . . appeared . . . nowhere?" Dick gave up at the end and just wildly waved his arms between Wally and the crater.

" Yeahhhh, I'm going to wait for translation to English on that one. You sure you actually learned English when you moved to Gotham Rob? Wally was about 99% sure he wasn't hallucinating, he really was back, but he wasn't taking any chances. He knew first hand just how devious The Light and their friends could be.

Dick's reply was instinctive.

"I'm not Robin anymore. I'm Nighwin . . ." He stopped when he saw the smirk on Wally's face. "Not funny."

"A), yes it was, and B), I had to make sure you weren't a," Wally took a deep breath, "clone, robot, illusion, hologram, shapeshifter, telepathic mental delusion, alien-"

"We get it." Shayera was starting to look mildly annoyed. She had signed up to rescue a missing possibly still alive hero, not listen to college boy chatter.

"Sorry Shayera. Blame Kid Idiot there. He started it."

"Hey! That's only OK when Artemis says it!"

"Awww, is it your safe word?"

"You are a depraved mongoose."

"Wow! 2 syllables! And I love mongeese."

"The plural is actually mongooses. Guess you don't love them that much, **Robin**."

"Tim's at home. And you can use either plural. That's why **mongeese** are so asterous."

"He corrects my grammar while butchering the English language. Ladies and gentleman, the hypocrisy of Richard John Grayson."

"Wow, four syllables. Must be a first for you, **Kid Idiot**."

"Low, buddy. Low. And you're just jealous I have the award for Worst Shopping Trip."

"Yeah, I want SB to chase me through a grocery store and get chased by police!"  
"You act as if this hasn't happened to you!"

Bart and Shayera had been watching this teasing exchange with increasing amounts of skepticism.

"You know," Bart hissed to Shayera, "I don't think they realize they're doing it. I think it's, like, a weird habit they have." She raised one eyebrow, still watching the verbal tennis match between the two friends.

"Actually, the mongoose thing is an old argument. I was testing him." Dick, who had far above average hearing, commented.

"Believe me, I remember. You two wouldn't shut up. I thought Superman was going to strangle you. Wasn't it Artemis who finally beat Wally with her pillow?" Shayera's expression could challenge Batman for deadpan.

"But the real question is: when she beat him, did he cry 'Kid Idiot'?" Dick ducked the snowball he knew Wally would throw at him.

"Dude, I will tell Artemis about this conversation when we get back." At Wally's comment, the grin vanished from Dick's face. He attempted to hide it, but the speedster noticed.

"What? What happened to her? Is she alright?" Dick could practically see the gears turning in his friend's head as he came up with the worst possibilities. Wally's face blanched even more as he turned back to face his friend.

"She's not . . " He couldn't even finish the sentence, the horror of the possibility showing on his face.

"The truth is, we don't know. She served as Tigress on the League for a few months, but quit because of stress and grief. After that, she went pretty much off the grid. Didn't return our calls, barely talked when we visited, turned down invitations, didn't reply to emails or letters and never checked in. We went to see her as often as possible, and I know your parents tried to contact her, but she wanted to be left alone. Then Jade went to visit her about a week ago, and no one was there. No dog, no Artemis, no anyone. She said the house was dusty too. We've been looking, but no luck. It's like she vanished off the face of the planet. I'm sorry." He saw the relief on his friend's face, followed by anguish. Shayera put a light hand on his shoulder as the speedster closed his eyes. When Wally raised his eyes to his next, he found determination in them.

"I'm going to find her. I just have to get back to the house . . How'd you get here?" Wally whipped his head around to try and find some method of transportation.

"M'gann lent me the Bioship. And if you're going to find Artemis, I'm helping. Detective, remember?" Wally smiled gratefully at his friend.

"I'll help t- BEEP BEEP BEEP" Bart's offer was cut off by both his and Shayera's communicators. Dick heard Shayera mumble curses as she dug hers out of her belt and answered it.

"What?" the Thanagarian warrior griped.

"Klarion's causing general havoc in Metropolis and Joker's threatening to blow up half the Las Vegas strip. There's been a breakout discovered at Belle Reve, but it appears to be old news. Take your pick, which ever is closest to your locati- What the flipping hell are you doing in the Arctic?" Hal Jordan's frazzled voice crackled out of the communicator.

"Helping a friend. I'll head to the nearest Zeta and go to Metropolis. ETA is 15 minutes." Shayera closed the communicator and turned to Dick.

"That Bioship had better be fast. 15 minutes of Klarion in Metropolis is enough to wipe out the whole city." Dick nodded, then jumped as Bart's communicator went off again, this time with the more urgent alarm. Bart, who had apparently been distracted by the call from the League, scrambled to answer it.

"Kid Flash, you are needed in Las Vegas. The team and members of the League are distracting the Joker's team. You and the Flash need to hurry to find the bomb he has hidden." Kaldur's voice was so calm Dick wondered if he had pre recorded message he played. The Joker having a bomb put even Batman on edge.

"Right! Sorry, I'll be there as fast as I can." Bart snapped the device closed and sighed. "Sorry I can't help you guys. Duty calls."

"I think the Joker and Klarion are higher priorities. Bioship's this way." Dick was already striding towards his motorcycle, which he had left behind an outcropping of ice.

Shayera simply spread her wings and took off in the same direction. Wally glanced at his cousin.

"The uniform suits you." Bart jumped slightly.

"You can have it back if you want-"

"I meant what I said about going back into retirement. My only goal is to find my girlfriend. You will, you _do_ make a good Kid Flash." Wally wasn't sure what he expected as a reaction, but it wasn't Bart hugging him so hard he almost fell over.

"It's good to have you back." Bart grinned, then released him. "Don't worry, I remember 'Operate word being removed'."

"Hey! Lovebirds! Maniac with giant explosive now, cuddle time later!" Dick yelled from his motorcycle. Wally rolled his eyes.

"We're coming, we're coming. Remind me why I missed you?"

"Because you can't cause as much havoc without me! And if I beat you to the Bioship, you're walking. MANIAC WITH A BOMB REMEMBER?" The last part was yelled as Dick floored the vehicle, taking off towards the ship. Wally hissed a curse he probably shouldn't have said in front of Bart and took off after him. Even though his limbs burned as he forced himself to use his abilities, he reveled in the sense of being free. He'd been stuck in the speedforce for so long, forced to run as fast as he could or simply vanish from existence, that he had forgotten that running could be enjoyable. It didn't even bother him when Bart easily surpassed him, skidding to a stop in front of the Bioship. Wally reached it a few seconds later, breathing hard.

"I . . .think . . all . .. the . . .running . . .in . . .the . . .speedforce . . .is . . .catching . .up to . .me." He also was realizing that while his metabolism had kind of paused while in the speedforce, that didn't happen in reality, and the last time he had eaten had been over a year ago.

"Makes sense. By all biological laws, you should be dead, but starvation's got nothing on the Wallman, right?" Dick grinned at him, then dashed inside the ship as Shayera landed. The Thanagarian warrior shook her head and followed him up the ramp. Wally and Bart followed behind her, Bart nearly being knocked over as Dick pulled the ramp back into the ship.

"Dude! Watch it!" Bart glared at the Bat, then slipped into one of the seats. Dick glanced at Wally, noting that his friend had remained standing.

"Besides the fact that you look like you're going to pass out, we're taking the you-should-sit-down-if-you-want-to-live shortcut. So sit down." Wally raised an eyebrow, but took a seat.

"Do I want to know?"

"I'm taking it out of the atmosphere and then re-entering at the closest zeta. In other words, hang onto your seats folks, it's gonna be a bumpy ride."

* * *

Bumpy didn't quite cover it. Wally was pretty sure he'd left his stomach back in the arctic. Next time, he was just going to have Superman throw him. THAT would be more peaceful and un-nauseating than what he had just experienced. Even Shayera was shaking as she descended the ramp.

"Remind me never to let you drive again." Bart shot a glare at Dick, evidently blaming him for the fact that he'd just spent the last minute experiencing his lunch for the second time. Wally could hear Shayera muttering definitely not appropriate curses under her breath as she walked to the zeta tube. Bart followed suit, and soon both heroes had glittered away. Wally raised his eyebrows at his friend.

"Shouldn't you be helping the League? What with the Joker and Cat Boy?" Dick shook his head.

"I've taken a leave of absence from the League and team. We're headed to Gotham to get you some food, try and locate Artemis and look into the Belle Reve breakout." Wally felt ice settle in the bottom of his stomach.

"You think they're connected, don't you? You think some maniac kidnapped her." Dick shook his head.

"They might be. I'm praying to god they aren't, but it depends on who broke out out. If it's Captain Boomerang I'm going with no. But former colleagues of her father are in there, along with the Mahkents. I wish I could say she's just on vacation, but . . .if there's anything I've learned from being a Bat, it's that our enemies hold grudges." The speedster nodded.

"Then let's get going."

* * *

Wally sighed for what had to be the fiftieth time since they had gotten back. Dick had simply grabbed leftovers from the refrigerator and brought them down to the Batcave, not bothering to find Alfred.

"What are you even _doing_?" Wally leaned impatiently over his friend's shoulder and peered at the screen.

"Hacking the Belle Reve database. Amanda Waller still runs security, and she refuses to give the League jurisdiction over the online records. No, I don't know why. And no, it's not illegal, unfortunately. I'm trying to find the name of the criminal who escaped. All they have down is that someone, or some people, geez, how lax is your record keeping, escaped from Sector 7. That's where they keep the ice or cold villains." Dick glanced up at his friend's sharp intake of breath. "That doesn't mean anything. They have a lot of ice villains. For all we know, Mr. Freeze or Killer Frost escaped again. Though if the security is anywhere as lax as the record keeping, we're dealing with Captain Cold." Wally nodded and leaned back, beginning to pace back and forth across the cave. He didn't care what Dick said about the number of ice villains, all he could think of was Artemis being held prisoner or tortured by the Mahkents. If he found one scratch on her, he was going to send them back to Belle Reve with a few broken bones.

"Finally! Waller keeps her own records under more security than the Pentagon. Oh Christ. Shit. Shitshitshitshit." Wally spun around at the sound of Dick's horrified voice, followed by the sound of him typing frantically.

"What? What did you find? Goddamnit Dick what the hell did you find?!" Wally was five seconds away from shaking the Bat.

"The person who broke out was Cameron Mahkent. He attempted to break his father out, but Icicle Senior was caught. He said he helped his son escape in return for his own freedom. When interrogated further, he said his son wanted revenge on some ex-girlfriend." Wally froze. This couldn't be happening. He'd believed he'd get out of the speedforce some day, always picturing a happy reunion with his beloved Artemis. Not this. Anything but this.

"C-can you track it?" he managed to choke out.

"Already doing so. They put a tracker in the criminals' bloodstream when they arrive, but a lot of them figure out how to neutralize it. I'm guessing Cam isn't quite that smart, but I don't know what effect it would have if he used his ice form. Let's hope it stays active. Got it! He's outside the town limits of Palo Alto, at some abandoned farm." Dick hit another button on the computer, and it pulled up the records of the team.

"What are you doing?! We found him! Let's go!" Wally had been halfway to the staircase when he heard the computer beep.

"Using the zeta DNA sample Artemis gave us to try and trace her. I have credit card bills, phone bills, more bills, grocery records, message signals sent to her phone, and active information from the security system I had installed on the house. Until one week ago, it looks like she was at the house, then nothing. I can't get any current records from the security thing either, which means it was either shut off or broken. Her phone records go blank too, no sign in information entered." Wally stared at the display on the screen.

"You can do that? How the hell does the computer do that?"

"It's an emergency program meant to be used for exactly this purpose. The button I pressed to start it read my DNA and sent an alert to Bats that someone had activated the program. You can't use it unless your DNA is verified and the information isn't downloadable or copyable. I can't trace her beyond a week ago, besides one cut off call to Oliver Queen. All it has is one ring, then no data from the phone." Wally rolled his eyes.

"I think we can assume she's in danger. CAN WE GO NOW!?" Dick nodded, yanking the keys to something off the counter and sprinting down one of the many corridors.

"Where are we going? The Bioship is that way!" Dick just kept running.

"The Batplane is faster. I only took the Bioship because I needed to transport more people. Besides, M'gann is picking up the Bioship at the Batcave. If it's missing, she'll panic." Wally just nodded and followed, zipping after Dick.

"You had better not be kidding about the faster part."

" _Hang on Beautiful. We're coming."_

* * *

 **A/N Quick Viewer Discretion warning here. The passage between here and the next author's note contains vulgar language and mild torture.**

Artemis wasn't sure what was a dream and what was reality anymore. She'd tried to fight back at first, but after he broke her phone she'd given up. Oh, gods, she was so cold. She couldn't escape the cold anymore than she could escape his voice. She'd started hallucinating from pain when he'd frozen her side. All she could hear when she closed her eyes was his voice taunting her.

"No one's going to rescue you bitch. You think they care?"

"Your little boyfriend hasn't showed up has he? Do you miss him?" She could hear his voice muffled in the background too, but could no longer distinguish which voice she was actually hearing and which was a memory. She welcomed the haze, knowing it was her body's attempt to cope with trauma. She heard the muffled voice grow louder and wondered if he'd come back. Then the world blinked white as shock and pain and cold coursed through every cell in her body, the suddenness of it bringing her back to reality as she peered up at Cameron Mahkent. He was holding an empty bucket, which she realized had just held the ice water dripping down her skin. She curled away from him, pressing back into the corner. He snarled at her.

"Getting tired of your unconscious act bitch. You ready to apologize yet?" So that was what he wanted. Artemis just stayed silent, curling farther into the corner of the room. He could freeze her to death, she wasn't apologizing to him. Her dignity and honor wouldn't let her. Not to mention the fact that the thought of apologizing to him with Wally dead from his allies' actions made her sick. She glared up at him, a challenge in her eyes. She saw a cruel grin spread across his face.

"Let's see you move when you're frozen to the floor." Artemis barely had time to process the words before she felt ice form under and around her. The moisture on her body kept her stuck to it, unable to move without excruciating pain.

"Ready to apologize yet you cunt?" Cameron leered at her. Artemis just glared back. "Fine. Let's see if this convinces you." All of a sudden, she felt as though she were being crushed. The sensation caused her to jerk upright, tearing her skin from the ice. She couldn't even hear her own scream through the pain. Then the crushing cut off, leaving her to collapse, already so weak she didn't even feel the pain from her movement. In the distance, she could hear shouts, and someone screaming in pain. ( **A/N Passage and warning over)** It wasn't until she heard a familiar voice she managed to push her eyelids open, looking at the world through a haze of pain. She tried to call out, hoping the voice belonged to someone who could help her, but all that came out was a groan of pain. Unable to keep her eyes open any longer, she barely registered someone shouting at her.

"Artemis! ARTEMIS! Please! Just hang on! We're here now Beautiful. You're safe. Just hang on . . ." Even through the fog of her mind, she knew that voice. Wally. Wally was here. But Wally was dead. Dead and gone. Maybe she was dying too. Maybe she'd see him again now. Maybe-

 **A/N Yes, I finally updated. And yes, I'm sorry, it's another cliff hanger. I swear that I'm working on the next chapter right now. I only cut it off because the chapter was going to end up super long and really complicated. I'm trying to update both Forced Vacation and this by the end of the month. Reviews are very much appreciated. I will not take another 10 months to update. I promise. Moodles won't let me, will you Moodles?**

 **Moodles: I have a roll of duct tape with your name on it if you do.**

 **Oh! Special thank you to the Zodiac Dragon for their continued enthusiasm for both of my stories despite the fact that I'm a horrible person who doesn't update. Sorry for leaving you hanging again.**


	5. Reunion

Dick rubbed his eyes as he took the cup of coffee from Alfred. The last two days had been about as hectic as it got. Between informing the Bat family of Wally's return and ensuring their silence temporarily, getting Artemis medical attention, returning Icicle Jr. to Belle Reve and patrols (Apparently bringing your best friend from an alternate dimension that slowly killed people and rescuing his girlfriend from a sadistic ice powered teen didn't count as a good excuse in Bats's book), he was wiped out. All he could say for the blonde archer upstairs was that she was damn lucky to have Wally for her boyfriend. He closed his eyes as he leaned back in his chair, ignoring the disapproving tsk from Alfred, and remembered the scene he had run in on at that farm.

* * *

Dick wasn't sure what he expected to find when he ran into that farmhouse after Wally, but it wasn't an unconscious and bloody Cameron Mahkent on the ground and his best friend kneeling before Artemis's limp body in a half melted patch of ice. It took him a moment to realize that the ice was continuing to melt because Wally was using the friction from vibrating his hands on it to warm it.

"Is she . . . ?" Dick couldn't quite voice the rest of his sentence.

"Unconscious. Please tell me that the Batplane can go as fast as you say it can. She needs medical attention." Wally's tone was clipped, and Dick could hear panic edging it.

"I can take it out of the atmosphere if necessary, but it can break the sound barrier if you push it. Where are we taking her for medical attention? You can't exactly check into a hospital and if we bring her to the Watchtower they'll detain us for suspicion of you being a trick. " Dick knelt beside his friend and began hacking the ice away from the wall with his escrima sticks.

"Batcave? I'm figuring Alfred's our best bet for immediate attention and I don't want to deal with the League yet." Dick nodded and continued trying to pry the ice away from the wall.

"Damn this stuff is thick. We should have brought Superman, what with the heat vision and super strength. Though I guess he's busy with Klarion or Joker." Wally just gave a murmur of assent and kept melting the ice. Dick gave up with the ice on the walls and went to gear up the Batplane for supersonic. Wally appeared a few minutes later, carrying a still unconscious Artemis in his arms. Dick let out a snarl of anger as the error message appeared on the screen yet again. He yanked the control panel out and looked at the wires, trying desperately to remember which one did what. He found the problem when he found that one of the wires had apparently snapped.

"Terrific. In and out of the atmosphere it is. I'm assuming that we can just leave Icy in the detainment cell here for Bats to take care of." Wally just nodded, his eyes focused on Artemis. Dick shut the control panel, making a note to tell Batman he needed to repair the Batplane. For the fourth time. This week. Dick just sighed and started the plane.

CRASH! Dick was pulled out of his thoughts when he tipped back too far and went crashing to the floor, right along with his cup of coffee. His burning hot cup of coffee. Alfred just turned to him with a disapproving look in his eye.

"I had better get the mop. Again." With that, the butler swept out of the kitchen. How an 80 something year old man could sweep out of a room Dick didn't know, but leave it to Alfred. He sighed and picked himself and the chair off the floor. For the twelfth time. In three days.

* * *

The first thing Artemis became aware of when she returned to consciousness was the warmth. Then the lack of pain and the realization she was not lying on the couch, but on a bed. " _Where . . .how . . Cameron . . .CAMERON!"_ She jolted up, then immediately regretted it when her head felt as though it had been hit by a brick, along with a sharp pain in her side. She would have fallen right off the bed had someone not pulled her caught her.

"Whoa there Beautiful. You're still healing and Dick said the pain meds would probably give you a killer headache. Calm down, you're safe." The last part was added when she frantically tried to get away from the person holding her. Artemis managed to pull far away enough to see the person's face, only to go absolutely slack when emerald eyes smiled back down at her.

"You're dead. You're dead and gone and you aren't coming back Wait, I'm not . . " At this Artemis, who had pulled away from him and curled into herself looked up.

"You aren't dead, and neither am I. You're at Wayne Manor. We brought you here after we found you. You're safe here." He reached out to comfort her, but she only pulled farther away.

"No! You're _dead._ I know you are. That's what they all said. You vanished. You're dead and gone." Artemis looked on the verge of panic.

"Artemis . ."

"YOU'RE DEAD! Dead and gone. Gone, gone, gone, gone. I'm hallucinating. You aren't real. I'm still stuck in that stupid building. Or maybe I'm dead too." She let out a hollow laugh. Wally again tried to reach out to her.

"Artemis please listen-"

"GET AWAY FROM ME! You aren't real, you're dead and gone and I'm stuck here by myself." She curled back up into a ball against the pillows at the head of the bed, tears running down her face. He was gone. This wasn't real. It was a dream. It was a hallucination. Either way, he wasn't back. He couldn't be back. He was _dead_.

"Artemis, I won't touch you OK? I just need you to listen to me. Can you do that?" She refused to meet his eyes, staying in her ball. "I didn't die when I vanished Beautiful. I got pulled into the speedforce. I've been stuck in there for a year, believe me, I tried to get out. Tried to contact somebody. I couldn't. I'd still be there if it weren't for Dick. He came up with a way to get me out. He and Bart and Shayera did. I'm not dead Artemis, and I'm really here. I missed you every second I was stuck there. I'm sorry I left you here, but I'm back now. I'm right here Artemis." No, no no no. He couldn't be back. He was dead. He wasn't coming back. She couldn't go back down that road.

"Artemis? Did you hear me? I'm right here."

"No. You can't be back. You can't be." She still refused to look at him.

Oh, god it pained him to see her like this. What hurt even more was the fact that only a small part of this could be blamed on Cameron. He had done this to her by leaving.

"Artemis please. I swear I'm right here. I'm alive Beautiful, I came back. Please look at me." He was afraid to reach out to her again, after the last two disastrous attempts. She finally did look up at him, her eyes and face devoid of expression.

"You aren't here. You are dead. You are gone. You aren't coming back. You can't be back. They said you could come back but they were wrong. You can't come back." Even her words were empty, repeated as if a chant.

Artemis kept repeating the words, not even sure if she was saying them out loud, or in her mind. He couldn't be back. He couldn't be alive. If she entertained the possibility for even a moment then the wall would come crashing down. If she could believe he was dead then she could shelve the pain far away in the back of her mind. He was dead and gone and there was no amount of mourning or crying would bring him back. But whenever she let the possibility of him being alive surface the pain came rushing back. And it only got worse when she woke up, or they found out their theory was wrong and the feeling of wanting him, needing him to be with her turned to even more pain. It didn't matter what this person in this room said. He wasn't alive. He was dead. With each thought she strengthened the wall between her and the gods damned pain. " _Go away go away please go away."_ "

"Artemis I need you to trust me. You're the only reason I didn't just let myself fade away into the speedforce. I knew I had to get back to you. I need you to come back to me now. Please Beautiful, I can't lose you." Artemis was losing the battle with the wall. She could feel the pain of losing him seeping through, still as sharp as it had been on that horrible day in the arctic.

"Please. I need my spitfire." The wall was gone. Artemis collapsed against the pillows, trying desperately to stop shaking, her mind torn between pain hope. She barely felt it when he pulled her against his chest, petting her hair as he tried to comfort her. Artemis gave up and just leaned against his chest. She glanced up when he took her hand and pressed it against the artery in his neck.

"See? Heart's still beating." He smiled at her. Maybe he had come back. Barry had. Superman had. Batman had . . .but she was pretty sure Batman was immortal. He sounded like Wally. He looked like Wally. His heartbeat still felt like a hummingbird on a caffeine high. She leaned farther into him, savoring the unnatural amount of warmth he gave off. Just like Wally had.

"How can I prove I'm me to you?" He was still petting her hair. She closed her eyes, trying to remember something only he had known. And drawing a blank.

"I'll list off the identities of every member of the Bat family. Hell, the entire League and Team." Artemis just shook her head.

"People can discover that. Plenty of people know Batman's identity." He snorted.

"Please. If Batman's identity is common knowledge, we're in an alternate universe." He was grinning at her. The same grin she'd seen on his face hundreds of times, usually before something exploded and Ollie spent the rest of the day chasing him.

"Artemis, please tell me what I can do to prove this to you. I meant what I said to Barry. He told you, didn't he?" It was that comment that convinced her. She didn't care how easy it might be to guess what he said, her mind was convinced. Wally was alive. He was alive and he was right here and she'd just spent the last five minutes acting like a stupid child. She heard the sound of surprise from him when she threw her arms around him, burying her head in his neck.

"I'm so sorry. God, I thought you were dead. I just gave up on life without you. I'm sorry I didn't believe you. And I'm sorry that the wonderful dog you adopted is probably gone. And I'm sorry that I'm a wreck and-" She was cut off by him pulling her tight against him.

"Artemis, what are apologizing for? You were kidnapped by a sadistic maniac. You have a right to be suspicious and you certainly have a right to be a wreck. I'm the one that vanished for a year. What do you have to be sorry for?" And then the words came tumbling out. The words that had tormented her since he had disappeared.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there. I wasn't-" He tilted her face upwards so that she was looking at him.

"It wouldn't have mattered Beautiful. You couldn't have stopped or saved me even if you were two feet away. And I wouldn't, I don't, ever want you anywhere near that device. Please stop apologizing. Wait," his eyes narrowed, "you didn't sell my Star Wars movie collection did you?" She laughed. She couldn't remember the last time she had really laughed. She shoved him lightly.

"Stop! You're making me laugh." He just grinned wider and nuzzled her hair.

"Good. Crying is depressing and makes me crave Alfred's cookies. Speaking of which . . ." he sniffed the air and looked back down at her. Her eyes widened.

"No. I don't care how good they are. I haven't seen you in over a year. You are _not_ running off to get cookies!"

"B-but they're _Alfred's cookies_!" Artemis shook her head.

"You're incorrigible. You haven't seen me in over a year and you're already ready to abandon me at the first whiff of food! What happened to 'I need my spitfire'?" She looked at him in mock hurt.

"I _do_ need you! But I also need cookies!" His green eyes were wide with a plea.

"No way. You are not leaving me to go get cookies! Wait . . Wally get that look off your face. What are you going to- Gah! No! Sto-o-op it!" The last part was caused by Wally tickling her until she let go of him, vanishing in a gust of air, only to appear back in about two seconds with a plate full of cookies. From downstairs she heard the familiar voice of Dick yelling in outrage. Wally just grinned and offered the plate to her.

"Cfuky?" he offered through a mouthful of the snack. Artemis rolled her eyes in exasperation and snatched the plate from him, placing it on the bedside table.

"You really are incorrigible." He scrambled away from her.

"No! Not the SAT vocab! Please!" She shook her head.

"That wasn't even on the list Kid Idiot. Unless you do something anhydrous I don't have any vocab to throw at you." He grinned and jumped up on the bed next to her.

"Am I allowed to kiss you or do you still think I'm an illusion?" She just laughed as he pulled her against him and lowered his lips to hers.

* * *

It was late when Dick went up to check on Artemis. He opened the door as quietly as possible and slipped in. Dick grabbed the plate of cookies from the bedside table, (which were rightfully mine! Get off my computer and let me finish the chapter Dick) smiling as he closed the door behind him on the sleeping couple curled up on the bed together.

 **A/N Sorry it took me longer than I thought to post this, I kind of forgot about my Summer homework and school starts tomorrow. (She says at 9:41 the night before) I'll try and get Forced Vacation updated by Labor Day, but I have a busy week. Reviews are much appreciated! Sorry if the reunion scene was weirdly paced. I'm not the best at sappy stuff. At least I think I'm not. Please don't hesitate to correct me on that. XD. Siriusly, any reviews are appreciated.**


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